Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Inner joy and happiness

Being as it may, we are all connected in an energetic sense, the video clip from the movie "The awakening" tells the story beautifully.

How does one go about feeling the inner connection with others and self, that is ultimately the core of inner joy and happiness?

The human experience has a capacity to feel and through the feeling of love and empathy (love + understanding + acceptance = flow of energy ) one is connected with the universe and one`s self, or the I, the essence of being and the universe. This state is felt as a feeling of inner joy and happiness, or it can also be called a lot of other different terms, labels, depending on the different philosophies, cultures, etc.

Needless to say it is important to understand the difference between sympathy, empathy and compassion. There is a big difference about where one or the other are coming from.

Sympathy

The term, label as it is commonly used, comes from a place of fear, the place of ego. One sympathises with an individual with fear that comes from the egoic mind and doubts a persons ability and their true potential, to solve the »problem« at hand, robbing them of energy in the process. Thus the person one is sympathetic about is »poor« or »less fortunate«, so he or she is automatically something less. But that is not actually the case. The »less fortunate« label comes from a place called the ego within us and a place of fear when one identifies with the story and is sympathetic about it, the ego labels it as less, so the listener is automatically something »better« and »more« than the individual one is sympathetic about or with. To identify means to make same, so one makes the story of another his possession and not a place of experience and love. Or if put in another way: one sees themselves in another persons position and in the case of sympathising the possession one has made by identifying is recognized as not one of their own "problems", so the possession is put in the hands of the individual one is sympathetic about, as a bourdon or baggage, that has to be carried, thus disconnecting. The thoughts that come to mind are: "Yes, that is bad, but it could never happen to me", "It is bad, but it is not my problem" and judges the experience as "bad" and labels an individual as »less fortunate« so »less«. The ego may even go so far as to assign guilt for the situation, thus the acceptance part of the story, or of having energy flow and being connected, is not possible.

Empathy

An English word, derived from the Greek word ἐμπάθεια (empatheia), "physical affection, passion, partiality" which comes from ἐν (en), "in, at" + πάθος (pathos), "passion" or "suffering". Although the term is neutral in its essence, the origin itś common use actually means "co-suffering", from the place of "pain body", or the "pathos", that is also part of the ego. One can easily see that this interpretation is also derived from an egoic mind that is convinced that in order to feel with another person and in order to connect one has to suffer. That actually does not make any sense, because one can easily see that if one co-suffers and is full of pain and sadness, one can not go about being constructive in the situation. In this case one makes the pain of others their own, through the pain body and identification. So in the case of empathy the possession one has made by identifying is recognized as one of "my own" problems or "baggage I have to share in carrying" and the so called baggage becomes bigger and heavier, thus unresolvable. That in turn communicates to the person we are empathising with that there is no hope (and disconnecting from now unsolvable situation) and the depression becomes the state of mind. This is a very interesting trick that the ego makes, thus disconnecting one self from other beings in attempt to not suffer. Feeling with a person and staying connected is not same as identifying. We are all beings responsible for the energy, feelings and actions we put out in the universe. So identifying and co-suffering do not make any sense once one has a good look at it, because both do require from the individual, to take responsibility for another. Does that make any sense? How can one independent energy field (being) take responsibility for the generation of energy, or feelings, actions of another individual? It can not.

The only thing that is natural is being responsible for the energy, feelings and actions one is bringing in to this universe, either consciously or unconsciously. So in other words one is responsible for one`s own output regardless of the awareness of it. Being aware of this little fact can enable a person to let go of his own identification with other beings experience, thus one can actually feel, understand, accept and love another beings experience without feelings of guilt, or suffering that are the concepts of the ego. One might say that feelings of guilt and fear are good indicators of one`s own disconnection, either from the I, the essence of being, or from others, the universe, or both. So in other words feelings of guilt or fear are a very useful tool in ones own path to inner joy and happiness, because in feeling them, one can be aware of one`s own disconnection.

So how to stay connected and have a constant flow of energy through our inner energy field?

Let us look at the word compassion:

Compassion

The term comes from the Latin. Its prefix com- comes directly from com, an archaic version of the Latin preposition and affix cum (= with); the -passion segment is derived from passus, past participle of the deponent verb patior, patī, passus sum. Compassion is akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν (= paskhein, to suffer) and to its cognate noun πάθος (= pathos). Notice that passion and suffering are combined in one word and thus the polarization of "good" and "bad" is not possible. It is a neutral word, it just is (not good, not bad, rather it just is, without judgement and with flow). But what is even more interesting is the Latin origin, if we look at it more closely, one can see that something is done with passion (cum = with; passus = passion), something is done with the connection to life and the energy flow. By understanding that all passion is life, that it is the feeling of life`s energy going through, it is the energy flow, the connection with life. One can understand that it actually means with flow of energy, with life, with love (love = life = energy). So a word compassion may in its true sense describe a process, a flow, of energy, that can be there regardless of the experience that being shared with as through another being. One can respect the experience, validate it, acknowledge it and thus create an energy flow, love.

So, the meaning of compassion means feeling with anotherbeing (without identifying), being in solidarity with, being connected without judgement and with actual feeling, having an open heart that can receive and give without fear and the absence of ego. Feeling with love, understanding that the situation is just a teachable moment, a stepping stone, an opportunity for personal growth. With understanding that the person, one feels compassion for, has the full capability in resolving everything that comes on the life`s path and by feeling compassion, he or she remembers that it is possible, that it can be done, that everything is as it should be. Communicating the feelings of trust, love and peace to the individual with compassion, it makes the connection with the individual, the universe and the I, the being inside. One does not have to agree or understand in order to be able to feel compassion, just accept that the experience is real and important for the other being with which one is compassionate, thus respecting and being in solidarity with another being, being connected and with accordance with the natural flow of energy.

Or to put in another way the individual we are compassionate with gets the message that he or she is seen, validated, as to say "yes, you matter" and "yes you can". "I see you, I love you, I care and yes, you can learn and you are OK, you are on the path of life, and you are accepted." and this is the ultimate message of love.

It is very simple and logical when seeing and being connected to the outer, one is connected to the inner, there can not be one without the other. Closing one`s self from the outer automatically means closing one`self to the inner, thus one is not able to feel the I, the inner being, the essence of one`s self, thus being disconnected, even opened to disease and lack of physical energy, because there is a lack of energy flow.

Feeling understanding for self and others, accepting one`s self and others. Being aware that everything in the path of life is a stepping stone and is a part of life experience. Needless to say each experience of life is different, because the paths to the wisdom are so many. There are many energy fields, made out of energy, in other words there are many human beings, all made out of the same energy, that is why they are different and all the same at the same time. That is why disconnecting form others means disconnecting from the I, the being, the essence, at the same time and thus having no energy and feeling tired all the time or not having a nice continuous inner flow of energy or inner peace. Sounds familiar? Some describe true evil or lets say destructiveness (that in its essence means: 1.Causing great and irreparable harm or damage. 2. Tending to negate or disparage; negative and be unhelpful.) as the absence of consciousness or awareness and compassion and that does make sense, does it not?

Another manifestation of compassion is through being responsible for the energy, feelings and actions one is bringing in to this universe, either consciously or unconsciously. Taking responsibility for energy, feelings and actions on the energetic level means to feel with or being in solidarity with the person to whom our output was harmful in some way, which maybe a sign of an unconscious action that is disconnecting one from the universe (so it brought upon a disconnection of the two beings, feelings that are the signs of the disconnection usually are: fear, anger, sadness, etc.). Finding a solution, a compromise, becoming aware, thus being responsible and staying connected, which is ultimately an act of self love, when one strives for inner peace, joy and happiness, for the future situations, similar to the one that was a teachable moment, and the opportunity of personal growth.

No path to this awareness can be good or bad (life teaches us in different ways) they only are. Love, acceptance, understanding, being aware are the key to the inner and thus the outer flow of energy, and being connected with I, the being and the universe.

For one to feel joy and happiness, one must become aware, so become L.O.V. E. that really means Living One Vibrational Energy. The truth is not out there, in the world of objects, the truth is within, the truth is you, the truth is in every being connected with love, the universe and to be connected to ones self..